There are a few things that you should pay attention to when e-mailing someone else, especially if it is a mail written for business purposes or to people who you don’t know so well. (That is, of course, not to say that you should ignore these rules of thumb when recipients are people who you know well.) I would like to give a few examples here:

Always cc’ing the entire world

There are some good people out there who for God knows what reason think the whole world wants to, needs to or has to read their entire life story, their frustrations, their needs… Most people don’t want to read mails that they are cc’d on, let alone need to. In fact, unless there is some kind of planning function going on where everyone should be aware of a meeting or something similar then most people actually don’t need to see the mail. When I am piled up at work the last thing I want is to look at the inbox and see one hundred plus e-mails piled up and waiting. I don’t have time to read all of this and it is an unnecessary hassle to go through the entire lot of them just to find the few mails that are necessary to read. Being unnecessarily cc’d to me is akin to receiving junk mail and I am sure that I am not alone on this.

One thing to think about if you are one of those who are guilty of cc’ing heaven, hell and the local tavern: Unlike junk mail, the recipients can see exactly who it is clogging up their workday with these round filers. And can you guess what will happen as this goes on? They will treat your mails with less and less urgency until in many cases your mails will either sit unopened or will be automatically deleted. If I’m lying, I’m dying!

Always automatically hitting ‘Reply All’

To me, this one is even worse than cc’ing the whole world. You are compounding the problem for everyone because the next insensitive monkey behind you will turn around and do the same. So now we have how many mails on the same subject that you aren’t interested in? This is how crap has babies. This is true “underling think” going on here. Not a high level of cogitation for sure. If I didn’t need to read so-and-so’s mail then why do I need to see five other people’s responses to it?

Expecting recipients to respond as if your e-mails are their urgency

I think it was Tim Ferriss who called e-mails “digital farts” and that by letting e-mails rule your day that you were being driven by someone else’s priorities. (If it wasn’t Tim Ferriss who said it then “solly!”) I couldn’t agree more with this line of thinking. E-mails should be malleable. They should be something that you can schedule in times to fit your day. But in today’s world most people. Think that you have to answer a mail within an hour (same business day is out the wind nowadays) and many will send you second and third reminders before the day is over – not even taking into consideration competing priorities, your own work schedule, time differences, etc. I might sound old fashioned when I say this but here goes: If it is urgent, go retro. Use the phone! Then the connection is made and everyone is spared anxiety, or at least the anxiety of unanswered e-mails.

All of the above cause undue stress in our offices and in our lives. If you follow these rules then I would definitely like to thank you. If you don’t, well, please give it a thought. Be polite with your e-mails. I bet you a dollar that your mother would be proud!

But these days I am taking jetlag a little bit differently. I have decided to make it a positive.

Before, if I found myself awake at 0330 hrs, I would struggle with the sheets and curse my bad luck. Now I always keep pen and paper and my iPhone next to the bed. If I find myself awake at an ungodly hour I ask myself the question: “Do I have a chance at getting back to sleep soon or am I too cogent for that?” If I think I have a chance at sleep I will get up, get some water, take a head call and go back to bed. If I think there’s no way I can sleep then I use the time for idea time. I take notes on any ideas that go through my head, whether they are for business or personal, then I make action plans, make reminders, send e-mails, write short blog entries (if they can be quickly done from my phone), etc., until my mind goes blank. I don’t, however, do any normal, regular mails. That won’t help to get the sleeplessness out of your system. I do, however, get all the surging ideas down to an actionable form, which gives me a sense of accomplishment. Once this is over I can have peace of mind and then have a more fighting chance to sleep.

But these days I am taking jetlag a little bit differently. I have decided to make it a positive.

Before, if I found myself awake at 0330 hrs, I would struggle with the sheets and curse my bad luck. Now I always keep pen and paper and my iPhone next to the bed. If I find myself awake at an ungodly hour I ask myself the question: “Do I have a chance at getting back to sleep soon or am I too cogent for that?” If I think I have a chance at sleep I will get up, get some water, take a head call and go back to bed. If I think there’s no way I can sleep then I use the time for idea time. I take notes on any ideas that go through my head, whether they are for business or personal, then I make action plans, make reminders, send e-mails, write short blog entries (if they can be quickly done from my phone), etc., until my mind goes blank. I don’t, however, do any normal, regular mails. That won’t help to get the sleeplessness out of your system. I do, however, get all the surging ideas down to an actionable form, which gives me a sense of accomplishment. Once this is over I can have peace of mind and then have a more fighting chance to sleep.

Be Two Steps Ahead in Innovation I am always looking for new ways to be innovative. I love that throughInc, I get the chance to speak with so many experts on innovation, such asClayton Christensen, Sunni Brown, Adrian Slywotzky and Geoffrey Moore. These experts shake up my initial notions on innovation and inspire me to try new techniques with my company. So when I came across Mark Proffitt’s predictive innovation workshop, I was very intrigued. Imagine being able to predict what consumers will want before it is available on the market. Imagine not playing catch-up with your product, but being the frontrunner of an amazing solution. To learn more, I spoke with Proffitt himself. I was so impressed that I took Proffitt’sworkshop on predictive innovation — here’s a summary of what I learned. Read the full article here: http://www.inc.com/tech-blog/be-two-steps-ahead-in-innovation.html

Folks, there are no magic networks out there. There is no group in the world where you can join, pay your dues and expect to have business just rolling through your front door. If that’s the case then the key to success would simply be to join every group out there and sit at home! The key to network success, and this goes for network success in ANY kind of business is participation. You need to go to the meetings. You need to follow up. And you need to put your own business into the pot. It takes more commitment than simply joining a network. Only then will you, and the other network members, get any benefit from your membership!

If you have been thinking about doing this I would recommend three good reasons not to:

1) These messages get deleted by the vast majority of recipients. They consider it spam;

2) For those who do reply to this creates backward spam to your inbox; and

3) If people see this as spam, doesn’t it paint your company in exactly the opposite picture that you want to be seen in?

I know everyone wants to wish others well this holiday season but we might all be better off with less of the holiday spam. We should reconsider whether this is a proper use of our business e-mail. And please think first of the recipient!

I must admit that I am one of the remaining skeptics of the whole global warming scare out there so you might think it odd that I write a column about how your company going green will be good for business. But global warming is not all that there is to being green. We need clean air, we need clean water. We need to preserve our forests and our landscapes. We need to watch out for that hole in the ozone that is a constant risk. Yet still the boogie bear of our age is global warming. And big businesses are on board with both feet.

Driven by profit and a sense of the inevitable major corporations around the world are backing stronger measures to reduce global warming. Corporations both large and small are increasingly heeding the call or even themselves calling for action on global warming, sensing a business opportunity in cutting greenhouse gases while hoping to shape regulations they believe are on the way.

In the United States Fortune 500 companies including General Electric, Duke Energy and JPMorgan Chase & Company in recent months have gotten behind stronger government measures to reduce industrial releases of carbon dioxide, the main heat-trapping gas that environmentalists and scientists have linked to rising temperatures and sea levels. Forward thinking companies like Cinergy, DuPont, United Technologies and Baxter International have been getting early starts on reducing greenhouse gas emissions — something they believe they would be required to do sooner or later.

Why is this important to you in your own business? Because people increasingly will believe that greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced and that actions should begin today to prepare for that eventuality. And that goes without mentioning other environmental hazards and pollutions.

Even when I was owner of a logistics company in Vietnam if you wanted to work with major companies, especially companies involved in the energy sector, you had to be green. And though their rhetoric is rife with references to protecting planet Earth, some of these “forward thinking” corporations will acknowledge that their newfound focus on global warming is driven by opportunity for profit. Isn’t that what we are all in business for? If you believe you can help improve the environment and make money doing it, then why not? Isn’t that the definition of win-win?

Though not every company is in the business of building nuclear power plants or selling wind turbines, we should be cautious and careful with our environment, but at the same time I would advocate promoting your efforts and using it as leverage to get new business. Don’t be a hypocrite about it. No one is the hero of the world. But at the same time even if you are taking baby steps to improve your own environmental impact at work you should make it known to your customers as well as your suppliers. This will have positive impacts in both directions just based on human interaction. Whether the action is becoming ISO14000 certified, recycling waste products or just planting a tree you should blow your own horn with these achievements. You will become known to your clients as a company that takes corporate responsibility seriously and at the same time you might have influences on your customers and vendors that might lead to them taking action as well.

Once you have come up with a plan to improve your environmental impact at your company and are well underway the plans implementation you should then take some actions on the marketing side as well. For instance, you might add your corporate environmental policy to your brochures or website. You may talk about the implementation in your company newsletter or corporate blog. These are just a few things that you can do to make the outside world know that you are a good citizen when it comes to the environment. It also gives talking points to salesmen when they visit environmentally conscious companies.

I am not advocating hypocrisy. You should not go green just for the cash box’s sake but at the same time if that is what it takes to get some companies to move their butts then so be it. At the same time you are in business to promote your products and services and to make a fair return on your performance. We are often told as youngsters not to brag or be boastful. I say get over that when it comes to environmental policies. If your company is doing good, then you should also be doing well.

I recently had an issue with a member of one of my networks that went something like this…

Another member had stopped answering their rate requests and on top of that would not even answer their e-mails any longer. They wanted to know if I would somehow step in and check it out.

So I asked the following questions:

1) Have you called or Skyped this other member yet?

2) Have you faxed this other member yet?

And guess what…? No, they had not.

Maybe this is because of my age but I remember when if you had problems with agents, suppliers, clients, etc., you would pick up the phone and call them. Sometimes you would even hop on a plane if the issue was big enough or grave enough. But it seems that nowadays business people around the world have what I call “e-mailitis”. Meaning they rely so heavily on e-mail that they do not even consider other forms of communication.

As it turned out both parties in this scenario wound up disillusioned with one another. The complainant’s reply to me was that I shouldn’t tell them such a thing as pick up the phone since a member of the same network should be so courteous and answer the e-mails. Of course they have a point – but they also lost the business. Not entirely because the other party didn’t answer the e-mail but I would say almost equally because this company complaining decided that e-mail is the only way to get things done.

We live in a world that those of us who grew up before 1985 would have had a hard time imagining. We have directly lines, mobile phones, voice mail, faxes, VOIP and so many other ways to connect with others these days. Not is it only strange that I would have such a complaint (non-follow up of e-mails) without the complainant first calling the agent on the other side but it seems this kind of complaint is on the rise!

So folks…

If you have a business partner (agent, vendor, client, etc.) who has not followed up quickly enough for you by e-mail response then call them! Or Skype them! Or fax them! If you don’t do this and you put all of your eggs in one basket, relying solely on e-mail, then don’t blame the other party if you don’t get the business.

I am only about halfway through the book right now but I am finding it incredibly helpful in looking at the blogs I am already running in new ways. I have a small note pad and am taking it all in. Like I said, I am not new to blogging but at the same time I am also nowhere close to being an expect either. This book is helping me to focus on areas of my blogging that I had not in the past. More on that in a later post.

Blogging, to me, is one of the best ways to network your business internationally. It can go hand-in-hand with pressing the flesh, social media and even traditional marketing and advertising. If you aren’t blogging then look into it!

Gary Dale Cearley, author of Promotion Points

Have you ever wondered why some companies consistently do well during rough times as others flounder?

I have to admit there is no single answer. However I have looked over quite a few winners recently to see what they did have in common. It was driven home to me after I watched the American footall’s NCAA championship game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Texas Longhorns. Nick Saban, the coach of Alabama, was asked by one of the sports journalists after the game how he has become the first coach in history to win a national championship with two different teams. (Nick Saban won his first national championship coaching another team, Louisiana State, a few years ago). His answer wasn’t sexy. In fact, it was very cut and dry. “Set up your processes and keep to the game plan.”

What is the wisdom in that? It makes success seem too simple, doesn’t it?

Actually, no. Sticking to the game plan is often the hardest thing to do. For instance, are you a multi-tasker? Do you easily get diverted to phone calls and, my Achilles heal, e-mails? Do you have trouble focusing on a single project for a chunk of time? Well, this is something you have to do in order to win. Or even in order to have a better life for yourself.

Early last year I read the book The 4-Hour Workweek by author Tim Ferris. Since then I have been quite interested in following up with this author whenever I had the opportunity to hear him speak or see him interviewed. The one thing that he constantly drums into you is that in order to be efficient you have to be able to cut back, cut down or cut out just about everything. In order to do this you have to set up processes to streamline your business.

There is a very key point that brings together both Nick Saban and Tim Ferris. You see, systems are only set up for their outcomes. If you get the wrong outcomes all the time then there is something wrong with your system.

Nick Saban’s system produced him two national championships and Tim Ferris’s system produced for him a four-hour work week. Whether you know it or not you are living a process on a daily basis. The outcome of your life right now is the sum of what you do every day. Are you successful? Healthy? It is because of how you manage your system. The key to managing is being able to look at your system to make the changes that rights the vessel and sails it to where you want to go.

One of the best stories I know of about righting the vessel was about the late Katharine Graham, former owner of the Washington Post. Katharine Graham inherited the Washington Post from her husband after he died a tragic death. She had zero business experience. None. But at the same time she didn’t want to sell the newspaper as it was a family heirloom. She also didn’t want to leave the management to strangers. What did she do? She asked questions. Katharine started her newspaper management career by holding meetings with each department and asking everyone from top to bottom two basic questions: 1) What is wrong with how we are doing things now? And what do you think we should do to fix these problems? Most often the recommended tweaks were not drastic changes – only modifications of the system. During Graham’s more than two decade stint as president of the Washington Post the newspaper went from being a mid-level regional paper being highly profitable and becoming, with the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, one of the three most respected newspapers in the country.

Systems are simply the implementations of plans. When you hear that someone says “that system was designed to fail” what they really mean to say is “the processes that system uses will give you an unintended outcome.” So as a manager if things are going wrong one of the hardest things to do is to stop, have an objective look, and tweak your processes. If you plan to be an entrepreneur or if your company is launching a new product you might want to spend most of your thinking time on properly designing the process.

Of course, processes aren’t 100% of success because the world around you changes. If the system was enough by itself then Nick Saban’s teams would win the championship every year. There would be no other competition. But when things go wrong and you have spent the time to build a proper system with well defined processes you will at least have a much easier time knowing what to fix. And when it goes right you will be unstoppable!